crazycatperson's best trip yet - November 2014

The last of the food photos - the shrimp platter and Asian salad from DHS's ABC Commissary and samosas and edamame from Animal Kingdom.

And I forgot about that cupcake! It was the seasonal pumpkin cupcake and slightly out of date with the jack-o-lantern on top, although still appropriate for the season. Very delicious. We cut it in fourths and shared it around the table.

Dee, he loved them! But you know he likes giraffes. He wore his giraffe T-shirt and giraffe Mickey ears when we went to Animal Kingdom park and was a bit miffed that I insisted on sitting in the lion section at Festival of the Lion King, so I promised that next time we would sit in the giraffe section. BTW sorry we just missed you on this trip, hope to catch up with you at WDW again someday.

Here's a photo I borrowed from JMed's trip report of the tuna poke at the Hawaii F&W booth along with a photo I took in 2011 of the same dish. Sure looks as if the portion was smaller this year. Still yummy, though, and still one of my favorites.

Edited to add: I think the tuna pieces were slightly smaller and there was less seaweed salad underneath this year.

And now, the meet-up!

We were schedule to meet at 2:00 Monday in the UK pavilion courtyard where the British Revolution band plays. Due to a last-minute change to the park du jour, hubby and our friends weren't at Epcot at all that day; due to some unexpected complications (more on them later) I was worried for a time that I wouldn't make either. Also, due to not doing anything on a computer since arrival day except rearrange FastPasses, I had no idea that Robyn and Simon would be late or that Mickey2 and Mr. Mickey would be joining us.

Anyway, my complications were dealt with early enough for me to get to Epcot and over to the UK before 2:00. As I approached the courtyard I looked around but didn't see Robyn and Simon. I did, however, see a woman on a bench who kept looking over her shoulder at me and eventually got up and approached me. Sure enough, it was JMed! We exchanged greetings and I said hello to Mr. Med. We talked about this and that, don't recall exactly, although I know the Food and Wine Festival came up. Mickey2 and her hubby showed up a bit later. As I said, I didn't know they were coming so had no clue who they were, but figured it out pretty quickly. And I was very sorry hubby was over at MK showing our friends around because the Mickey2s are full-time RVers, and that's on hubby's wish list for retirement, so I know he would have enjoyed talking with them. We also talked about the Mickey2s' Annual Pass/FastPass problems and how they were finally resolved. JMed had mentioned that Robyn and Simon were running late at a Les Chefs ADR; they arrived a bit past 2:30 but with plenty of time to visit before the band started their 3:00 set.

I enjoy meeting everyone I can from this forum, but I was especially happy to see Robyn and Simon since hubby and I had the pleasure of meeting them two years ago. They are both such lovely people, and I consider them friends even though there's an ocean between us. So I gave them both a hug and then all seven of us got back to talking about our trips, the merits of being a DVC owner (looks as if we talked the JMeds into buying!), and other things. Robyn showed me her iPhone 5; hubby and I were seriously considering upgrading our "stupidphones" since they were both showing their age and weren't holding a charge as long as they used to. And I'm happy to report that Robyn's recommendation combined with not finding anything else that met our criteria led us to purchase the same model iPhones.

The band came out as we were talking and we all stuck around to see the show. Once that was over, we talked some more and then started to split up to get to FPs or ADRs or whatever was next on our respective agendas. Robyn and Simon had a FP for Soarin' (I think it was Soarin'), and since I had to catch the monorail to meet my "peeps" at the Magic Kingdom, we started walking together. And lovely people that they are, they walked me all the way to the park entrance, where we took a quick PhotoPass photo together and then said our goodbyes. But not for long - although my schedule called for me to go to Animal Kingdom park Tuesday, I decided to blow off my group so I could see Robyn and Simon at Magic Kingdom after they checked out of the Grand Floridian.

So Tuesday morning arrived. I made it to MK a little before our scheduled meeting time, which was 10:00 to 10:15. We'd agreed to meet by the flagpole, which I noticed had been moved from the town square over to the city hall. I waited a bit, watching people meeting characters in the square and doing a questionnaire with a cast member who asked if I was willing (I said I was waiting for people so might as well spend the time answering his questions). I saw Robyn in her scooter a little past 10:15; she apologized for being late, but I assured her I would've waited as long as it took. Simon arrived a bit later, since he had taken their bags through the bag check while Robyn hurried ahead to find me.

Our first stop was the Main Street Bakery; I was taking doxycycline (more on that later) which needs to be on an empty stomach, so I didn't have time to eat before I left for MK. Simon very generously treated me to a croissant and an iced tea lemonade (thanks, Simon); Robyn also got a croissant (we agreed they were delicious) while Simon got a breakfast sandwich. After that, Robyn and Simon had a FP for Haunted Mansion. I didn't, but since the standby wait was just 10 minutes Robyn was able to use her GAC to get all three of us in with no wait. This was the first time I entered any attraction via the disabled entrance, and it was interesting to see how it was done. After entering the first room, we and a few other groups that included disabled people waited to the right while everyone else entered the shrinking room. From there we followed a CM through a CM corridor to the ride's exit. For everyone who had the ability to walk a short distance, wheelchairs and scooters were left outside the building and then we all walked to the ride exit platform and boarded our Doom Buggies as other riders were getting off. Simon told Robyn to ride with me (thank you again, Simon), and Robyn described some of the secret effects of the Haunted Mansion that she and Simon learned during one of the behind the scenes tours they took (I think it was Marceline to Magic Kingdom).

From Haunted Mansion we continued to It's a Small World, again using the wheelchair entrance. I'm sure most if not all of you have seen people with disabilities enter this ride, so I won't describe it here. The three of us shared the front seat of our boat. The front seat has considerably less leg room than the seats farther back - and if I have a legroom problem, you KNOW there isn't much legroom. Poor Simon was really cramped up. Anyway, Robyn told me a seriously creepy secret about Small World that she learned on a backstage tour. Every night when the park closes, they stop the Small World boats, turn off the music, and shut down the lights. But it would take too much time to go through the ride turning off all the animatronics - so all night long, in the dark and silence, those little dolls keep dancing and dancing and dancing.... Dang if that would not make the basis for one terrifying horror movie!

Robyn and Simon's next stop was Monsters, Inc., where they had plans to meet other friends. So onward we went. I really should have said my goodbyes then and headed over to Kidani Village for our Sanaa lunch ADR, but I did not want to leave just yet, so since the standby wait at Monsters was also just 10 minutes, all five of us were able to go right in using GAC card. Again, you've no doubt seen how people with disabilities enter this attraction, so I won't go into detail. Robyn parked her ECV, the rest of us got chummy on a bench that was just a hair too small for all of us, and we all enjoyed the show. And then I really needed to hustle my butt to the exit to make that ADR.

Below are two photos of the Epcot meet-up. The first was taken by a kind stranger using my camera. Front row, left to right: JMed, crazycatperson, Robynprincess, and Mickey2. Back row, left to right: Mr. JMed, Mr. Mickey2, and...ummm, shall I call him Robyn's prince? (Ladies, feel free to borrow this photo to illustrate your own trip reports.)

Second photo is borrowed from JMed and shows JMed and Robyn posing, with me in the Marie the cat T-shirt behind them.

I missed a meet-up photo. This is Robyn and Simon, taken with my old mobile phone, so apologies for the low quality. Hubby asked me to send him a photo of them from the meet-up.

Also, ladies, if any of you would like a higher-resolution version of the meet-up group photo, send me a private message with your email address and I will get it to you.

Thanks to Food and Wine, I made a couple of stops while out yesterday - the liquor store (the one on Eisenhower, Alicemouse) to get some Glenfiddich whisky, which we tried and loved at the F&W Scotland booth. We had the 18-year at Epcot (magnificent) but only bought the 12 year here at home. For good reason; the 12-year cost $45 for a 750 ml bottle, while the 18-year was up around $100. I'm sure the 12-year will be very good as well, but if not perhaps next time we'll have to bust the budget for the 18-year. I told hubby he was not to make any whisky sours with this stuff, and he said, "No, that's what Jack Daniels is for." Good man.

Second stop was a beer distributor. For those of you who aren't fortunate enough to live in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, here we can only buy wine and liquor at state stores. Beer must be purchased at beer distributors and can only be purchased by the case. (The exception being that six-packs can be purchased at stores that also sell food for consumption on-site.) I wanted some of that scrumptious Stella Artois cidre that I got at the Belgium booth. Fortunately, since I already knew how good it was, I didn't balk at having to purchase a case of 24 bottles. There's a four-pack in the refrigerator right now, and I know what I'm drinking tonight.

And now, on to a day-by-day account of our vacation.

Saturday, November 1 was departure day. In spite of procrastinating on preparations, I'd gotten most of the stuff I wanted to do finished Friday evening (meaning I left the place a little less clean than I would've liked, but everything we needed and everything the cats needed was done). Saturday we happily had a relaxed morning getting the last-minute stuff done. We loved up the cats one last time, especially the kitten, and hit the road just a little past our target departure time. The drive was uneventful, and we got a text from Gary and Sherry saying they'd reached the terminal while we were boarding the parking lot bus.

We checked our bags, but instead of taking them behind the counter, we were told to take them to a woman with a baggage cart at the end of the check-in counters. The Southwest employee behind the desk explained that they were changing their baggage-handling procedures and this was temporary. (Remember this, because it will come up again later.) That done, I breezed through security because they sent me over to the TSA pre-check line after I'd gotten in the regular one. This was the second time it had happened, since I also was sent through TSA pre in September. After hubby had his shoes and belt back on and the laptop back in its case, we wondered why they kept sending me through TSA pre. Because I was over 60? But I wasn't in September, and Gary and Sherry are older than I am and had to go through the regular line. I checked my boarding pass and realized that "TSA PRE" was printed right on it! Later I realized that it was probably because I'd undergone a government background check in connection with my government contracting job. It was probably the same background check as the TSA pre-check, if not more stringent. And sure enough, my boarding pass for the return flight also had "TSA PRE" printed on it. So thanks to my job I don't have to take off my shoes and belt, pull out my liquids bag, or unpack my laptop when I go through airport security. Very nice. Definitely need to keep this job.

We met Sherry and Gary at a small food court adjacent to the Southwest Airlines gates after we'd all made it through security and got lunch. Our gate was more crowded than usual due to a delayed incoming flight, so we had to stand around a bit. Eventually we heard an announcement saying that our flight had been moved to another gate, thankfully not crowded at all, and we grabbed four seats before the rest of the folks on our flight made it over. Our flight was delayed by roughly 20 minutes, which became 30 minutes, and then became much longer because apparently someone on the arriving flight had been messing with a floor grate, which was now loose and needed to be thoroughly inspected and secured before anyone could board. Bummer. We finally boarded the plane; hubby and I had boarding placement of A32 and A33 while Gary and Sherry had A40 and A41, close enough so we were able to get seats in adjacent rows, with hubby sitting in an aisle seat on the right and the rest of us taking up all three seats on the left. Since Southwest doesn't assign seats and lots of people don't pay the extra charge for early-bird online check-in, a family of three boarded last and couldn't find seats together since there were only single seats left. The boy, perhaps 12 to 14 years old, was quite anxious about having to sit apart from his parents and ended up being seated between hubby and the woman in the window seat on his right. I felt bad and for a moment considered telling hubby to take my seat and I would go sit in a single seat so the kid and at least one parent could sit together. Then I thought, Hey, we paid $25 to get good seats, not my fault they didn't, and it's not as if the kid were 5 years old. He was old enough to take care of himself. And he did just fine, plugged himself into his music and games and was none the worse and perhaps better off for having had to do something that pushed his comfort levels. Next time he'll know he can do it.

And then the flight was delayed a little more because the winds had shifted and the plane had to change runways! By this time we were over an hour late taking off and I knew we wouldn't be doing much at WDW that evening. Fortunately the flight was uneventful, with just a bit of minor turbulence along the way. We landed over an hour late and found it quite cool for Florida. We split up from our friends at this point, since they were renting a car and we were doing the Magical Express. We were the only people going to Animal Kingdom Lodge and rode with the Pop Century/Art of Animation crowd. It was cool seeing Pop again after our fun stay there last April. Once all the value guests had been delivered, hubby and I moved up to the front seats to chat with our driver, who was awesome. He made the whole trip a lot of fun and chatted with the two of us all the way from AoA to Kidani. I discovered he was from the state I was born in, and we reminisced a bit about the old home towns even though he was young enough to be my kid and our growing-experiences were somewhat different. I really felt bad that I had no smaller bills in my wallet because I would have tipped him if I'd had a few ones or even a five. Check-in went smoothly, after which we took the elevator to the fourth floor and walked...and walked...and walked until we finally found our room almost at the end of our semicircle and practically in Jambo House. But we were quite pleased with the rooms (see description and photos above) and especially with our savannah view (also see pictures and description above).

We phoned Gary and Sherry and discovered that they were just leaving the airport! The line at the rental car counter was huge, and instead of making it to the resort before we did, which I had expected, they were going to be quite late. Hubby and I were starving at this point, so we headed over to Jambo House and eventually found The Mara. We figured we could go back with our friends or accompany them anyplace they wanted to go once they arrived, but once they arrived they were too stressed and tired from the long trip and all the delays and ended up eating cookies for dinner.

Gary and Sherry only had 6-day non-park-hoppers and wouldn't have wasted a day on a few hours at Magic Kingdom that evening. Hubby and I could've gone on our annual passes, and I'd even made FPs for the evening, but we also decided to stay in and take it easy. Good thing, too, because we heard the sirens screaming past and then saw news about the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train fire on the TV news that night! So glad we weren't there! But I am happy to report that when we did make it to MK later in the week, we could see no evidence at all that there had ever been a fire, and aside from while the fire was burning and being fought, the ride never closed down.

By this point we were exhausted, but our bags hadn't arrived yet. Hubby fell asleep fully clothed while I watched TV and the evening news. At one point I looked out the window and saw a whole herd of zebras right outside! So I woke hubby up to show him, and he was glad that I did - that was our first really good view of the savannah animals. At the four-hour point after check-in, which was 12:30 am, I called the front desk and explained the situation. Did we arrive on the Magical Express? Yes, we had. And had we flown Southwest? Why, yes to that also. And the helpful CM explained that Southwest was having "problems" getting checked baggage to the resorts. Aha! So changing the baggage-handling procedures was causing complications on both ends of the trip. The CM asked whether we wanted our bags brought up as soon as they arrived or not until we woke up and called in the morning. Of course I opted for morning, not wanting people dragging bags into our room while we were sleeping. And we went to bed, me without my toothbrush.

Day 2, Epcot!